Bolts oust Enforcers, book semis ticket

MANILA, Philippines – Meralco clamped down on Mahindra’s local top guns and made it 3-0 over the Enforcers in two weeks, hammering out a 105-82 rout Saturday night to clinch the third berth in the PBA Governors Cup Final Four at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo.

Keeping Aldrech Ramos, KG Canaleta, Paolo Taha and LA Revilla in check, the Bolts sent the Enforcers down on their knees and moved to the semifinals to join early qualifiers the San Miguel Beermen and the Barangay Ginebra Kings.

After close wins in their previous matches (86-83 and 104-99), Meralco came out and tore Mahindra apart on a wondrous performance in the last 34 minutes of this quarterfinal game.

The Enforcers jumped out of the starting block and led by 15 at 35-20, 14 minutes into the game, but then the Bolts made the necessary adjustments, turned the game around in no time and scored a lopsided triumph.

“We really felt that this is an important game for us. Had we lost tonight we’d give them the confidence as we play another game,” said Meralco coach Norman Black.

“The team has come a long way in the past two conferences. The semis is not the end. We need to win the championship,” Black also said.

The Bolts pulled a solid job together on the defensive end, neutralizing the Mahindra players that they had to. Offensively, Allen Durham, Chris Newsome, Jared Dillinger and Cliff Hodge carried much of the load.

In 32 minutes of action, Durham put in superb all-around numbers with 24 points, 16 rebounds, six assists and one block against three turnovers.

“We knew that if we’re to be in the level that we wanted to be, we had to push ourselves hard. That’s what we did,” said Durham.

 “We’ll not celebrate tonight. When we get back to the gym, we know we have to be consistent. We get stronger as the days go by. Everyone is hungry. One common goal is to win the championship,” Durham also said.

The do-it-all Meralco import laced his game with three triples, including one that highlighted a bristling attack in the third that shoved them way ahead at 76-55 in the third period.

Falling behind by 15 at 20-35 early in the second period, the Bolts quickly recovered, racing ahead, 50-45, at the half.

Things became a lot easier for the Bolts as they contained Mahindra’s key local players.

Ramos, Canaleta, Taha and Revilla, averaging 45 points together in the elims, were held down to 17 in this game.

Mahindra import James White himself failed to make much impact, getting only 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Except for their strong first quarter, the Enforcers fared miserably in their first quarterfinal game in pro play.